Review: Her and Me and You by Lauren Strasnick

Release date: 10/05/10

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Age Group: Young Adult

Pages: 208

Overall:

I met Fred first.

Fred: Hot. Enigmatic. Alex’s first friend in her lonely new town. Maybe her
first…everything.

I met Adina the following Monday.

Adina: Fred’s twin sister. Cold. Troubled. Trouble.

I kissed him.

She pressed her mouth to my mouth.

People warn Alex to steer clear of the twins, but Alex is drawn to them.
She wants to be part of their crazy world…no matter the consequences. (summary
from Amazon.)

Lauren Strasnick definitely had me captivated within the first 40 pages or so. Her and Me and You is definitely a lot different from the predictable, however cute, YA romance novels that I usually read. It was quite refreshing (however ironic it may seem) to dive into a world of extremely complex characters that actually have some depth.

The romance in the novel was nice, as it was totally real and a lot more similar to the average girl's love life than your usual YA romance novel. But while Fred and Alex's romance was cute, it was their relationship with Adina that gave the story depth.

I can't say that I've ever read about a character quite like Adina before. Which is both good and bad. On the one hand, I most definitely hated Adina. But I also sympathized with her at points during the book. While Adina may do sick and manipulating things to try to keep Fred and Alex apart, what was sad was how legitimate her reasons for doing so were. Adina and Fred have this incredible relationship throughout the novel, and it's very interesting seeing how Alex ties into that relationship. What's so scary about the whole thing is Adina's fragility that makes you underestimate her. While Adina clings to Fred and uses him as a crutch, she can also be very powerful and manipulative.

I don't think I can put into words how I feel about this book. It touches on some issues that are very real, although the scale of the issues in the book is much larger. Her and Me and You is a short but gripping read filled with complex characters and great emotional depth. I can't wait to read more from Lauren Strasnick!

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Love always,

Amanda